174 Indian students, over 50% of them women, have been awarded the prestigious Erasmus Mundus scholarships for the degree programmes starting in the academic year 2023-24. This is the biggest-ever cohort of Indian students to be awarded scholarships under an annual selection. Worldwide, 2,835 students from 143 different countries have been awarded scholarships.

The Delegation of the European Union to India organized an event for the departing Indian students to mark this milestone, which is a testimony to the growing people-to-people links and mobility between the EU and India. The Indian students who have received a scholarship for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master (EMJM) will soon be leaving for Europe for their higher studies. Erasmus Mundus programmes are innovative joint master’s programmes organised by a consortium of universities.

Congratulating the students, H.E. Seppo Nurmi, Chargé d’ Affaires EU Delegation to India and Bhutan, said: “I am pleased to share that 174 Indian students have won the Erasmus scholarship this year, beating the figure of 161 Indian students from last year. Given how competitive the Erasmus programme is, this deserves a big applause. It highlights the growing people-to-people connection between the EU and India, which is an important pillar of our partnership.” He added:  “The Erasmus+ programme not only offers students state-of-the-art education opportunities and professional development, but also allows them to gain rich cultural experience and a unique opportunity to explore Europe’s diversity. I wish all the students an enriching journey.”

Under this fully-funded scholarship all costs including participation costs, travel costs and living allowance of the recipient are covered. The selected Indian students of the Erasmus Mundus 2023-2025 batch will have the opportunity to study and conduct research in at least two universities located in different European countries and obtain a joint, double or multiple degree. Europe today is home to over 4000 higher education institutions, from top-level research establishments to small, teaching-focused colleges, with more than 17 million students and 1.5 million academics, including 435,000 researchers.

Hailing from 21 states and union territories across India, the largest number of this year’s Erasmus Mundus scholarship recipients come from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi and Kerala. Collectively, over the next two years Indian students will be hosted primarily in 17 different EU countries, with some studying in other countries. The first host countries for the students who fly in for the current academic year include, France (48), Italy (27), Belgium (20), Finland (11), Spain (10), United Kingdom (5), Portugal (17), The Netherlands (04), Germany (06) Sweden (02), Austria (06), Denmark (04), Ireland (02), Hungary (02), Turkey (02), Czech Republic (04), Estonia (01), Greece (01), Norway (01) and Serbia (01).

This year Indian students have chosen to pursue an eclectic and diverse range of subjects both within the sciences and social sciences, many of which are well- aligned to the EU-India strategic partnership. Courses in the domain of Energy, Environmental Sciences, Medicine and Data Management remained as the top subject choices this year. Within the sciences, Ocean Sciences, Astrophysics & Space Science, Nano Sciences, Circular Economy and Sustainability remained popular, while Gender Studies, Linguistics, International Studies and Cultural Studies were some of the top picks among the social science students.

Representatives from the Member States interacted with the students at the event and shared information which would enable them to make most of this opportunity. Indian Erasmus alumni, officials from EURAXESS and the Erasmus Mundus Association in India attended the annual event.

In 2022, 161 Indian students received the Erasmus Mundus scholarships.

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